Water puppetry

The tradition of water puppetry was established and become one of the unique folk arts thanks to the ancient people with their creativity and imagination. Water puppetry is associated with wet rice cultivation in Northern plains and Buddhism introduction into Vietnam. Therefore, it can be said that water puppetry appeared from 11th to 12th century when Buddhism started developing strongly in Vietnam under the Ly dynasty, related to the farmers’ natural conditions and their daily life.

The performances are often shown in village festivals, rice harvests, Tet Lunar Year, and other special events of the year. Water puppetry has many distinct characteristics from others. Water surface is used to be stage, called puppetry house (thủy đình), curtains covering behind stage, and surroundings decorated with flags, fans, elephants, gates and so on. On the stage, the wooden puppets are controlled by people behind through string systems under the water with folk songs playing in the background.

Puppets are normally made from fig wood that is light and endurable in order to easily emerge on the water.  Each water puppet is hand-carved and given five layers of lacquer paint to protect the puppets from the water and to add vital colors to the performance.

The topics of performances focus on the daily routine of countryside people, folk stories and history told between generations with the aim to create a relaxing space for farmers and entertain them after a hardworking day.

There are some places you can enjoy the water puppet performances such as Thang Long Water Puppet Theater, and Dao Thuc village (Dong Anh district, Hanoi).